Chapter 306: Time to Return to the City

The host rambled on for a long time before finally making the announcement.

"First place, Mou Lili and her students, the song they performed is 'Warm Tree in the South'."

Cheers erupted from many people in the venue.

Ling Feng was so excited that he jumped up at once.

Then the children also started jumping and hopping around.

Mou Lili let out a long sigh of relief.

She had been nervous before knowing the ranking, but now that she knew, her mood was very calm; she composedly led the children onto the stage to receive the award and accepted the 80,000 yuan prize money granted by the organizers.

She did not intend to keep this money for herself, but instead gave it all to the children; there were exactly 8 children, so each received ten thousand.

……

After the awards ceremony ended, the children were still extremely excited, and not a single one of them could fall asleep.

Mou Lili and Ling Feng ordered takeout for them to eat at the hotel: pizza, fries, burgers, milk tea, and even spicy gluten strips—they could have whatever they wanted to eat.

They tossed and turned until midnight before falling asleep in a jumble; several children slept on the sofa, and two slept on Ling Feng's bed.

Somehow, Ling Feng and Mou Lili ended up sleeping together.

When Mou Lili got up and saw Ling Feng, she felt that this guy must have done it on purpose.

Fortunately, the children had not woken up yet, so Mou Lili simply let them sleep until they woke up naturally.

……

After the competition, they stayed in the provincial capital for two more days, and Mou Lili took them to see the university in the provincial capital.

The university was not originally open to outsiders, but Ling Feng pulled some strings to let them in.

Mou Lili said to them: "Look, this is a university. Isn't it many times larger than the primary school in your village? There is a library, a large lawn, and so many basketball courts and soccer fields. As long as you are willing to work hard, you will have the hope of coming to a university like this in the future."

Fenfen asked: "What happens after finishing university?"

"After finishing university, you will go to realize your own value. Those who like big cities can stay in big cities to work, and those who want to go back to build their hometowns can go back to build their hometowns. In short, live the second half of your lives in the way you want."

Hearing this, the children's eyes were filled with anticipation.

……

Finally, it was time to return to the village.

That day, Jin Shu brought a group of people to the entrance of the village to welcome them.

With gongs and drums, it was even livelier than the Lunar New Year.

Big Gold Chain and the others also came, fawning over them in every way.

"You all are really something. After winning first place, reporters came to our village the very next day to interview us, saying you all are amazing."

"Now many people know that our Dabao Village has produced a first-place winner."

"Our folk songs have also been promoted."

"……"

Mou Lili kept saying that this was the children's credit, and she handed the prize money to their parents in front of everyone.

The parents were grinning from ear to ear, especially Xiaozhu's parents; it turned out that going to school really could earn more money.

Nini's grandfather was also grinning from ear to ear.

Look at how promising our Nini is; she can earn ten thousand just by going to sing a song.

It was the same for Fenfen's family, who at first refused to let the child go, worried that Mou Lili and Ling Feng would kidnap the children.

Seeing everyone so happy, Ling Feng paid out of his own pocket to have Jin Shu arrange a banquet, buying chickens, ducks, and geese to invite the nearby villagers to come and eat.

Everything in Dabao Village also drew to a close with this evening banquet.

Because the bridge was repaired, the children could go to the nearby primary school to study.

Ling Feng and Mou Lili were not people from here after all; they had to return to the places where they originally lived.

Perhaps Ling Feng would go to the next impoverished place, but he would not stay in one place forever.

Moreover, they had to go back to attend the full-month banquet for Han Yangting's family.

The whole village reluctantly bid them farewell.

Leaving Dabao Village and then boarding the high-speed train, Mou Lili's mood remained very complicated.

She seemed to have grown fond of this wandering life, so she could not stay here forever; her second half of life was destined to be a wandering one.

On the high-speed train, Ling Feng rested his hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong? Reluctant to leave everything here?"

"Are you?" Mou Lili asked.

Ling Feng thought for a moment: "There is no banquet in life that doesn't end; parting is for a better reunion."

Ling Feng being able to stay here for more than a month was indeed quite something for a young master of a prominent family like him.

Mou Lili could not stay here forever either; she was not a great person, she was cold by nature, and she had her own life pursuits.

Mou Lili said: "Tell me, what will happen to those children in the future?"

Ling Feng said: "They have this memory now, so no matter how great the difficulties they encounter in the future, they will be optimistic and strong."

Mou Lili nodded and leaned back against the seat: "I'm so tired. I'll take a nap first. Remember to wake me up when we arrive."

"Sleep. We are at the terminal station, so don't worry about oversleeping."

The high-speed train whistled as it surged forward.

Mountains and fields were all left behind.

……

It was already night when they arrived in Beishi.

Ling Feng and Mou Lili got off the train together and exited the station.

Mou Lili asked, "Where is your friend's place?"

"Just follow me and you'll know," Ling Feng said.

They hailed a taxi, arrived in the city center area, and finally stopped at a high-end residential complex.

Mou Lili couldn't help but say, "Are you crazy? Finding me a place like this—the housing price here must be over 200,000 per square meter, right?"

Ling Feng said, "It's just sitting empty, and there's no rent for you to pay, so what are you afraid of?"

"Why doesn't your friend just rent the place out?"

"People who can afford to rent here, why wouldn't they just buy a place inside the Fifth Ring Road? It would cover the monthly mortgage. Unless it's for short-term rentals, like celebrities coming to stay temporarily, but short-term rentals are a hassle to manage; changing tenants too frequently ruins the feng shui of the house, so it's just been left empty."

"Good heavens, the security guard at the entrance even saluted us, tsk tsk," Mou Lili exclaimed.

"That's perfectly normal, okay? Even in a fourth or fifth-tier city, if you buy at a Country Garden, the security guards will salute you too."

Mou Lili said again, "They planted so many chrysanthemums inside? The maintenance fees must be high, right? My god, there are even koi fish under the rockery and flower pond; these are very expensive breeds. Aren't they afraid of someone stealing them?"

Ling Feng couldn't help but say, "There is surveillance nearby, and besides, what rich person cares about a single koi fish?"

"That's true, too," Mou Lili certainly looked like someone who hadn't seen much of the world.

Ling Feng walked and said, "Have you stayed in Dabao Village for too long? You're acting like you've never seen the world; you've been to Han Yangting's home, after all."

Mou Lili said, "That's different. I went to the Han Family as if I were visiting a tourist attraction, and I wasn't going to live there. But you're telling me I'm going to live here, and I just find it so surreal."

They had already entered the elevator; the elevator here served two units per floor, with each unit being 200 square meters.

In a place like this, 200 square meters is already an astronomical price.

The elevator rose to the 8th floor, and when they came out, Ling Feng pointed to 801: "We're here."

He took out his phone, pulled up the code for the digital lock, and added, "Memorize this code; you need to enter the code first to register your fingerprint, and after that, you can just use your fingerprint to unlock it."